New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took a pointed dig at the Congress over its performance in the biennial Legislative Council elections held using ballot papers across four states. In a post on X, Mr Modi highlighted the contests for 28 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka and asked how many seats the Congress had won.
“MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?” the Prime Minister wrote, adding a thinking-face emoji. The remark was widely viewed as a response to the Congress’s long-standing demand for paper ballots and its criticism of electronic voting machines, including allegations of electoral irregularities.
The elections, covering teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies, were held on October 23. Counting began on October 27 and continued into Wednesday. These upper house polls are restricted to registered graduate and teacher voters and are conducted exclusively through ballot papers.
The Congress drew a blank across the four states. The sharpest setback came in Karnataka, where the party is in power. The BJP-JD(S) alliance swept all four seats. The JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency from sitting Congress MLC Puttanna, while the BJP retained the North-East Teachers’, South-East Graduates’ and West Graduates’ seats.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP secured five of the seats declared so far, while the Samajwadi Party won three, including the Varanasi Teachers’ and Agra Teachers’ constituencies. Counting remained underway in the remaining UP seats. In Bihar, results were fragmented: Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party opened its account by defeating sitting Congress MLC Madan Mohan Jha in the Darbhanga Teachers’ constituency, the RJD won the Patna Teachers’ seat, the BJP took Tirhut Teachers’, and an Independent won Saran Teachers’.
In Maharashtra, where five seats were contested, counting continued on Wednesday with early trends showing mixed leads between the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). Overall, the Congress failed to register a single victory in the 28 seats despite contesting a significant number of them.
Political observers noted that the results, particularly the clean sweep against the ruling Congress in Karnataka and the party’s zero tally elsewhere, provided the Prime Minister an opportunity to counter the Opposition’s narrative on voting methods. The Congress has consistently argued for ballot papers in all elections. Mr Modi’s post effectively highlighted the party’s inability to convert that preference into electoral gains in these specialised constituencies. The outcomes are also being watched ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and other states.